| Post Fight Analysis On Cotto-Gomez, Dawson-Johnson, Margarito-Cintron, and Tarver-Woods!
By Vivek Wallace, photo by Chris Farina - TopRank - Fight aficionado's around the world walked away from their television tubes on Saturday night high on life. Not only had they witnessed a great evening of boxing, but the results rendered set the stage for some huge things to come in both the Light Heavyweight and Welterweight divisions. Although the four fights witnessed went a long way in answering questions, perhaps it's the ones raised that will serve as the appetizer, en route to the potential main course. As we continue to digest what happened last Saturday night, we take an in-depth look in the form of a close-up analysis.
Miguel Cotto-Alfonso Gomez: Most can remember a few years ago in the NBA when sports fans had a chance to see the elevation in the game of Dwyane Wade who went from a young, somewhat injury prone player to one who would rise to the occassion at every stop and ultimately end that season with an MVP award in his sports biggest stage.. It appears that this same 'spirit' exist in Miguel Cotto who continues to impress and show us why he remains to some the unofficial ring king of the welterweight division. The evolution of Miguel Cotto has been a total thing of beauty to watch, even for those who in the past have failed to admit it. Many thoughts come to mind when the name is mentioned. The enigmatic ways of his only embellish the full effects. Part raging fire, part consummate pro. Part friendly foe, part deliberate stranger. The blue collared fighter in a white collared sport. Simply the kind of guy that is completely happy being a quiet storm in the midst of a sport widely known for the loud and wild. Very little can be said to actually take away from the perception we have of Miguel Cotto, but bearing that in mind, his future still holds a few questions. All of Cotto's recent headlining opponents - Mosley, Judah, Gomez - were stationary targets who take a lot to land a little. The trouble here is that the guy most want to see Cotto square off against (Mayweather), is not. Against Gomez, Cotto had a round (rd 4) in which he landed 60 flush shots. Few have landed a whole lot more than that in a full 12 round fight against Mayweather. Gomez was a very credible fighter, but at the end of the day he falls considerably short of the tier 1 ranks in his divisions elite. That fact makes it tough to truly judge the outcome of this fight because it explains the dominance of Cotto's past, yet doesn't really address the potential of what lies ahead in his future. It appears that Cotto's next challenger (Margarito) will also be a stationary target, however, one equipped with a granite chin and two iron fist. Some would argue that no fighter Cotto has faced - to include Colombian Ricardo Torres who had him badly hurt - has the power of Antonio Margarito. For now it appears all questions have been answered, but for the constantly evolving Miguel Cotto, two more remain. Can he overcome a fighter with iron fist and a granite chin?, and can he overcome a target that can make him miss and make him pay (Mayweather)? For now it's a mystery of the unknown, but soon we shall all find out. Perhaps as early as July 26 which is his next targeted ring date.
Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson: If I had to title this segment it would be 'Dawson's Creek', because it appeared that Chad was up the proverbial 'creek' without a paddle, yet somehow, by way of boxing politics, he managed to escape. Going into this fight I felt and stated that Dawson would win by split decision at best and it appears that I was right. Trouble is, the only split in this decision was that Dawson felt he won, and the rest of the world felt the total opposite. Although Dawson did look sharp at some points, the overhand right was his nemisis once again and by all accounts, he technically lost the fight. Glen Johnson proved once again that he is the official unretired emeritus champion of the light heavyweight division. His legendary status can't be stripped no matter how one chooses to take it because no one has ever convincingly done it in the ring. Chad Dawson was no exception. Dawson won a few rounds early, but Johnson did far more to solidify himself as the divisions best. In this fight there were certainly more questions raised than questiones answered. Will Dawson award Johnson a rematch before moving on? Will the WBC demand an immediate rematch? If so, will Dawson relinquish his strap for a big money bout with Tarver? The questions on this topic can mount up for days, but as of right now, the only answer rendered was the one that let us know if Chad Dawson can be beaten? That answer would be an emphatic YES!
Antonio Margarito-Kermit Cintron: This fight proved a few things to many people. Some things that were already speculative, and a few that weren't. It proved to the masses that despite the lower skill level and despite the many losses, Antonio Margarito belongs amongst the higher echelon of the welterweight division; And it also proved to us that as athletic as he is, Kermit Cintron lacks the heart required to take a lickin' and keep tickin'. Cintron came out looking like he was ready to right the wrongs of his past, but as most previously felt, the moment he realized that his power was not enough to overcome the granite chin of Margarito, his confidence evaporated like dew under the morning sun. In the beginning of the fight when Cintron was able to box and create space with his jab it made all the difference for him, but an apparent flashback to his slow start against Paul Williams made Margarito figure out a way to nullify that jab immediately. That way was his patented pressure, and once again he performed to perfection. The future for Kermit Cintron leaves many questions. Similar to Zab Judah, Cintron has become one of those 'bridge' fighters who remain entrenched somewhere between the good and the great, not quite a full-time member of either side. Where he goes next could be a boxing venue near you, or maybe even the retirement ranks. As with most things about Cintron, we'll never know until it happens. Margarito, on the other hand, has solidified his duel against the divisions unofficial welterweight king. The tentative date is scheduled for July 26, as for the results, we'll have to wait and see, but I would agree with trainer/HBO Commentator Emanuel Steward who said "that's gonna be a helluva fight"!
Antonio Tarver-Clinton Woods: This fight was the 'dud' of the night, as Clinton Woods - despite a vast improvement - was thoroughly outclassed. Antonio Tarver did enough to win but never quite showed the kind of effort that made you think that he would be a favorite against the man believed to be his opponent in the fall, Chad Dawson. This was Tarver's first real step-up in opposition since his humbling loss to Bernard Hopkins. Althought it was a caliber above his last few opponents, many would argue it did little to prepare him for what lies ahead. Tarver's effort was enough to put him in the ranks of the light heavyweight elite, and aside from Johnson and Dawson, few others have proven to be better. Bernard Hopkins has already beaten him and Roy Jones Jr. has no need to face him again, leaving few others of any true notoriety to challenge him. If the WBC request that Chad Dawson gives Glen Johnson a rematch, that could spell trouble for Tarver, who then would not have a true target to consider, and could ultimately end up facing Johnson again if he does indeed defeat Dawson in a potental rematch. Once again we have a scenario where more questions were raised than those that were answered. For those fight fans that follow the trend, it's obvious, this isn't such a bad thing after all.
A Night At The Cotto Fight
By Scoop Malinowski: Miguel Cotto and Antonio Margarito proved on Saturday night in Atlantic City that the 147-pound division is on the verge of exploding into a rebirth of the Golden Age of the Welterweights. Like the 1980's legendary group of Leonard, Duran, Hearns and Hagler attracted and fascinated so many boxing fans with their fearlessness, fighting skills and spectacular unforgettable events, our new warriors Cotto, Margarito, Mayweather, Williams, Quintana, Clottey and Berto appear ready to revitalize the sport of boxing.. If only the powers that be and HBO would do the right thing and begin to organize a welterweight unification tournament rather than planning on an encore of Mayweather-De La Hoya, which Glen Johnson, for one, called "garbage." Mayweather vs. Hatton II is another waste of time fight which would further clog up and perhaps even ruin welterweight unification from ever happening. HBO televises Cotto, Margarito, Mayweather, Berto and Quintana and Clottey and Williams are not bound to Showtime, so HBO can make it happen.
The performers are ready. Cotto and Margarito are superstars in waiting, they just have to have the opportunity to exhibit their excellence on the big stage for the high stakes. Margarito was absolutely devasting in destroying Kermit Cintron by KO 6 in their anticipated rematch. Cintron was jacked up, literally jumping and almost flying as he entered the arena from the dressing room area. Credit to Cintron for taking this fight when he didn't have to, The Killer was as ready as he could be, he just ran into a superior fighter. Randy Neuman, who would ref Cotto-Gomez later, sat in press row and was impressed by Margarito. "He keeps coming forward. He doesn't stop punching." Neuman noted that Margarito staying active is beneficial to his form and performance as it was for his own boxing career. As a top ten ranked heavyweight, Neuman cited the time when he had 9 fights over a 12 month period.
Cintron was game and battled to the end but his big right hands just had no effect on the mighty Mexican. Margarito applies constant relentless pressure and his punches come in combinations from all kinds of different creative angles and target all points above the beltline. And Margarito's handspeed is most certainly not slow, as some critics have wrongly claim. Tony's fists were flying with astounding velocity and accuracy last night. Said one Mayweather fan named Jaice Nesby, "Margarito is so methodical, so accurate." Would this Floyd fan like to see Floyd take on Margarito? I wouldn't want to see it," he replied with a smile. "I like Mayweather too much."
Margarito is clearly in his prime right now, and he may still not have reached his pinnacle yet. Earlier in the week I asked the new IBF king who he thought would win Cotto or Mayweather? "Right now, I don't care," answered Margarito. "Anybody, Mayweather, Cotto, Give me Mayweather, give me Cotto. Anyone. Anyone. Whatever one you want, give it to me. I take it. Right now I'm ready for anybody. Mayweather for a long time I tried to follow him. But he never gave me the chance to talk with him. One time, Mayweather lost $10,000,000. But he don't want to fight me."
Unlike Mayweather, Margarito is a supremely confident, fearless warrior who is ready, willing and able to fight the best to prove he is the best. No excuses, no reasons, no alibis, just give Margarito the best and he will fight them.
As the crowd waited for Miguel Cotto to enter the ring, I spotted a beautiful professional-looking banner stating the simple sentiments felt by boxing fans all over the world: "Cotto #1 Boricua, We Want Mayweather." I went up to talk with the two men proudly holding it and learned they are "two Puerto Ricans, we live in Tennessee." They drove all the way to Atlantic City to see Cotto. Do you really think Cotto would beat Mayweather? "Yes because Cotto has more heart," answered Hector. "It's kind of different, we Puerto Ricans, we're into the boxing. Cotto has a lot of things in his favor. Cotto is more dedicated to training, he hits more hard." The man's friend Andro added," Mayweather is in it for the money. Cotto boxes FROM THE HEART! Not for money. COTTO NUMBER ONE!"
Boardwalk Hall wasn't sold out for Cotto-Gomez but there was no lack of energy or atmosphere. And anyone who thinks Cotto has to build up his name and fanbase ought to slap himself twice. Cotto is a superstar right now and his domination of Gomez showed brilliant new modifications to the Caguas man's unique fighting style. He is a boxer/slugger who can control a bigger man with his footwork and jab and can also step in and unleash vicious combinations to the body and head. Cotto's handspeed and ring generalship are also excellent as is the way he mixes up the power on his punches. This is a grandmaster of the ring, evolving and improving for every fight. And he's going to get even better still in the future. It's really becoming clear that Mayweather knows exactly what he's doing by ducking and dodging Miguel Cotto.
After Cotto's 5th round TKO win, Bob Arum was asked by a reporter what he thought Mayweather might think about the Puerto Rican powerhouse now. His response drew laughter at the post-fight press conference. "Mayweather sat at home and watched the HBO doubleheader of the knockouts by Cotto and Margarito. And then he probably signed on to a flight to Mars."
Arum didn't stop there. He even had some veiled but critical words about HBO. "If he considers himself the best pound fighter in the world he should fight the best out there. No question about that. Enough people have raised that - What about Cotto? What about Margarito? Well he ain't having any of that. You know who he's gonna fight? He's gonna fight a nonsense fight again with De La Hoya which they're gonna try to sell based on his father working De La Hoya's corner. And then cursing each other out and making spectacles of themselves. And HBO will empower them by doing a 24/7 and a whole nine yards. And then he's gonna fight Ricky Hatton. Imagine that! Ricky Hatton!"
I asked Bob - Isn't it your job to sell Cotto vs. Mayweather to HBO, to make that fight happen? His response fingered Floyd as the sole obstacle. "HBO can't do it. HBO would love to do it. But they can't do it. Mayweather IS A COWARD. A PSYCHOLOGICAL COWARD. He's AFRAID TO LOSE. As long as some writers are gonna vote for him as Fighter of the Year, because he beat a 400-pound guy, didn't he? Then it's gonna empower him. You gotta understand, he's a psychological coward. He's afraid to lose."
Then one of Mayweather's most devout defenders in the media chimed in from the peanut gallery, Two years ago you said Floyd Mayweather was one of the best fighters ever, with Muhammad Ali. "He sure as hell was," replied Arum without hesitation. "Floyd Mayweather was a major talent. Are you kidding? You saw him fight. He's afraid to LOSE!" Arum's forthright retort silenced the Mayweather sychophant from asking any other questions.
Cotto and Margarito both, almost happily, agreed to fight on July 26, and spoke kind words about each other. They posed for photos and embraced. Pure class, sportsmanship, both are the essence and eminence of what this beautiful sport is about. By comparison, they make Mayweather and his immature persona (though not his boxing talent) look ridiculous. It seems inevitable though that the destruction of the self-styled bad guy Mayweather will happen. It will come in one of two ways - at the hands of Cotto or Margarito. Or by putting himself down in shame as an indipustable coward who refused to man up from ducking and dodging Miguel ("punching bag") Cotto or Antonio ("D level opponent, easy work") Margarito. "If Mayweather doesn't fight Cotto by next summer I think he's afraid of him," admitted New York Newsday's Marcus Henry.
Sammy Sosa, the former Major League Baseball slugger was in attendance to watch Cotto. I asked Sosa what he thought about Cotto's performance. "Cotto is incredible," said Sosa. "He invited me to this fight and we went here and supported him and he did a great fight tonight."
Can Cotto beat Mayweather, Sammy? "I think so. I mean, the way, in the shape that he's in, I don't think Mayweather could beat him right now." How did you meet Cotto? "In Santo Domingo, I invited him to my birthday party last year, December 1st."
So here we are, at a crossroads point in the evolution of boxing. A new era of superstar welterweights is on the verge of commencing, like the year 1980 when Duran vs. Leonard in Montreal ignited the sport's popularity. Will the boxing powers get the job done and make the welterweight title fights people are demanding? Or will they continue to segregate and protect Mayweather from having to fight the best? Will Mayweather ever commit to fighting Cotto or Margarito to determine who is the best? Will Mayweather add some excitement to the sport by saying something like Cotto and Margarito are great but I will whoop them both after I take care of Oscar? Or will Floyd continue insist he's the best while making excuses and reasons to duck and dodge the most intriguing fights the boxing fans want to see most?
Unstoppable Miguel Cotto is too much for anybody
By Mike Cassell - Atlantic City – Give Alfonso Gomez credit. He did something that Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, and a host of other “so called” hall of fame fighters will not think about doing and that is step into the ring with Miguel Cotto. Maybe Cotto needs to join the WWE or put on pair fishnet stockings to lure these guys into the ring..
Saturday night in Boardwalk Hall started out as a championship fight, and then quickly deteriorated into a sparring session that was both funny and embarrassing for the former contender hopeful. Cotto was just too fast, too strong and flat out too good for Gomez, who was toughly outclassed from the sound of the first bell. Cotto moved to 32 – 0 (26KO’s), landing nearly 60% of his punches and taking Gomez off his feet two times. The ringside physician called an end to the fight in the fifth as his eyes were swollen shut, and he just had nothing that could hurt Cotto. I can’t get angry for Cotto taking this fight, because Cotto runs from no one. He is a true old school type fighter that will stand toe to toe with the best.
Nearly a year and a half ago, he stood fought the very tough Carlos Quintana and knocked him out with a tremendous liver punch. After Quintana destroyed Paul Williams this year, we got a pretty good idea of just how good Cotto is, and just how dangerous that fight with Quintana was for Cotto. But that is Cotto. He will fight the guys that are up and coming. He will fight the guys nobody wants to fight, and in July he will yet again fight a guy that Floyd Mayweather dodged his whole career, Antonio Margarito. Margarito dominated and knocked out Kermit Cintron with a body punch in the sixth round for the IBF crown on the undercard Saturday night in Boardwalk Hall.
Margarito is a self described hard luck story who finally got his day in the sun, and boxing fans everywhere will benefit from it in July.
This fight will define both of these men like never before. Margarito is someone that has will and ability, and he is very hard to hurt. Cotto relentlessly moves forward with a controlled chaos that can be both graceful and destructive. This will be fight of the year. Cotto has recently commented that he doesn’t need Mayweather, and he probably doesn’t, but it makes you think about the true competitive nature of De La Hoya and Mayweather. How can they watch Miguel Cotto destroy fighter after fighter and not want to test their skills against him. It seems as if De La Hoya may have become the very thing he accused promoters like Arum and King of for years, and that is trying to control the game. Money is a good thing and every fighter should make as much as they can for as long as they can, but for fighters like Mayweather and De La Hoya who consider themselves legends and Icons, what are thinking when they watch Cotto fight? Now that the feud has ended between Golden boy and Top Rank, it might be time for these guys to sit down make a Cotto matchup with either Mayweather or De La Hoya a reality.
Bob Arum knows what he has in Cotto, and he is also keenly aware that there is big money waiting down the road. He is always smiling when asked about a Mayweather or De la Hoya match up. When asked about that subject in Atlantic City he smiled and replied.
“Cotto is not worried about his face, or dancing or wrestling on TV. He is a fighter that will fight anybody, and I mean anybody. What more can you ask from a world champion?”
What more indeed.
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